Mother collapses after council ‘could not find her a home’
WOMAN REPORTEDLY ‘STOPPED BREATHING’ AFTER BEING TOLD NEWS AT CIVIC OFFICES
A MUM collapsed at Ealing Council’s offices after being told the council “couldn’t find her a home”, a witness has said.
The woman, thought to be aged in her 30s, fell to the floor inside Perceval House, in Uxbridge Road, when she was told the bad news on Wednesday October 9.
One witness said the woman “stopped breathing” temporarily, while a man who happened to be in the same room performed CPR until an ambulance arrived.
Ealing Council said officers “responded quickly” after the woman collapsed but added they “cannot discuss individual housing situations”.
The woman, who reportedly had three children with her, was allegedly given a brown letter at the council offices moments before she collapsed.
A witness who was just metres away told MyLondon a council officer told her “I’m sorry, we can’t accommodate you” as the letter was handed over.
It was at this moment the woman, described as a “very young pretty girl in her 30s”, collapsed.
“She fell on the floor and the security said ‘nobody touch her,’” said the woman who witnessed the “frightening” incident.
“She then looked like she stopped breathing and another person, a random man who was sitting next to me, said he knew CPR.
“He carried out CPR. It was absolute madness.”
The witness added: “Had he not been there when the woman collapsed, she may have died.
“She stopped breathing, I’m sure of it.”
The London Ambulance Service (LAS) was called and paramedics arrived at the building at 1.41pm.
The Metropolitan Police were not called.
A LAS spokesperson said: “We were called to reports of a person unwell.
“We dispatched a medic in a car and an ambulance crew to the scene.
“We treated a woman at the scene and took her to hospital.”
The woman was taken to hospital, while her three children were “looked after by a social worker”.
She has since been discharged from hospital.
A Ealing Council spokesperson said: “The council’s staff members present during the incident responded quickly and ensured the children were looked after by a social worker.
“We cannot discuss individual housing situations, but when a client with children cannot be assisted by the housing team, they are referred to social services for help with their housing.
“We are sorry that a person was taken ill at our customer service centre. We understand that person was discharged later that day and has been reunited with her children.”